


it’s always our self we find in the sea

by neroh



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone is a Marine Biologist, Disney References, Falling In Love, First Time, Fluff and Smut, I have a bone to pick with Scuttle, Jim Kirk is a puppy dog, M/M, Merpeople, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-27
Updated: 2015-08-27
Packaged: 2018-04-17 10:37:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4663476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neroh/pseuds/neroh
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leonard McCoy is a skeptic in an age where skeptics are hard to come by.</p>
            </blockquote>





	it’s always our self we find in the sea

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Wonder of the Sea](https://archiveofourown.org/works/1483258) by [slashsailing](https://archiveofourown.org/users/slashsailing/pseuds/slashsailing). 



> Thank you to Bre, Leah, and Dommi for putting up with this and Shannon, see - I finally did it!
> 
> The title comes from the e.e. cummings poem _maggie and milly and molly and may_.

Leonard McCoy is a skeptic in an age where skeptics are hard to come by.

He sticks to what science, common sense, and his eyes tell him. There are tried and true facts and then there are beings from other planets, such as Spock, who’s a damn Vulcan (and possibly the most annoying bastard Leonard’s ever encountered).

He lives in an age where extraterrestrial life has been confirmed and mixed in with Terran society. They have colonized other planets and there is space travel.

The universe is literally their oyster.

Which is all well and good except Leonard, current marine biologist and former trauma surgeon, hates anything to do with heights.

He likes his feet on mostly solid ground or with the pull of the ocean, where he can feel the salt against his skin and the waves all around him.

Leonard also enjoys a full night's sleep.

The shrill ringing of his comm going off in his ear startles him awake and sends him into a panic state as he fumbles around in the dark for the device. Once he clutches it in his hand, Leonard barks, “What!”

“It’s me,” Chris Pike says, deliberately ignoring him. “You may want to get down to the docks.”

Leonard palms his face, poking himself in the eyelid with the corner of the comm. “Why would I want to do that?”

“Well, we finally caught your least favorite person in the act of some very illegal activities,” Chris begins to explain.

The doctor raises a brow. “Spock got arrested?”

“ _Second_ least favorite person,” the other man amends, sighing. “John Harrison has been taken into custody for violating the Marine Life Welfare Act.”

Leonard doesn’t need to be told twice. He’s dressed and down at the port within twenty minutes, flashing his identification to the officers securing the scene. As they allow him through the holographic partition, Leonard spots Nyota Uhura and Hikaru Sulu speaking with Chris.

“Lovely morning for a raid, huh, Len?” the latter chirps.

“How are you even awake?” he mumbles as Nyota passes him a thermos of coffee. He takes a sip, humming in appreciation. “Thanks, darlin’,” Leonard tells her. “You’re a lifesaver.”

Nyota grins in the dim light. “Anytime,” she replies.

They pass the thermos back and forth as Chris goes through specifics: Harrison was caught with a cache of endangered species on board a cargo ship, all ready for transport to China per the agreement of an unknown buyer.

“That should put him away for a while,” Hikaru says.

Chris agrees with a smirk. “Definitely. It’ll make life a bit less exciting, but…” He shrugs. “What can you do?”

“Get some shut-eye,” Leonard suggests, winking over Nyota and Hikaru’s chuckles.

As Chris explains that they are taking inventory of the animals before they are transferred to Starfleet’s marine base for medical care, Gary Hendorff’s robust figure appears through the mist, lumbering towards the group in a hurry. He swallows several lungfuls of air and gestures for them to follow. “You guys may want to see this!”

They file onto the cargo ship and are met with putrid smells below deck, so rank it’s enough to make Leonard’s eyes water.

“What is it?” Chris questions as they venture lower, footfalls echoing on metal.

Gary shakes his head. “I don’t think you’ll believe me if I told you, sir.”

Everyone’s curiosity is piqued and they all lapse into silence, going deeper into the bowels of the ship until coming to a porthole where several officers gather around.

Leonard notices how they keep a good distance from whatever is beyond the threshold and themselves, looking speechless and confused. He hears the sound of water thrashing against Plexiglas and falling onto metal flooring, followed by a helpless cry.

“What _is_ that?” he asks, pushing through the throng to find himself staring at a man.

No, a fish.

Leonard blinks.

A man _and_ a fish, unless he’s hallucinating.

“Is that what I think it is?” Chris whispers.

He rubs his eyes and looks again, taking in the iridescent tail which is now a combination of murky greys and greens because of the lighting. It gives way to fair skin just below this being’s hips, all very much a man’s upper body.

“Holy crap,” Hikaru exclaims, slowly and deliberately.

Leonard exchanges a glance with Nyota before taking a tentative step forward. The being isn’t paying attention to him and is slumped against the corner of the tank, panting with its eyes closed.

Calling the clear box Harrison kept him in a tank is a joke; it’s barely long enough to contain the merman and is filled with filthy water up to the gills curving along his ribs. The rest of him is out in the open and scared by the looks of it.

As the doctor draws a bit closer, he notices ripping in the merman’s tail and bruises on his fists. Clearly, Harrison has mistreated him and the thought makes Leonard seethe, not realizing that he’s about to step on a fish bone.

The sound of his boot cracking the discarded carcass is like a shotgun going off.

He finds himself staring into the bluest pair of eyes he’s ever seen, so wide and full of fear that it makes his heart ache. Leonard holds up his hands in surrender. “Easy,” the doctor says, moving at a snail’s pace. “Easy now.”

He goes to take another step when half a fish, which is more bones than fish, gets hurled at his face. It hits Leonard on the cheek, leaving a trail of slime behind as it bounces onto the floor with a thud.

The merman begins thrashing again, sending water all over the floor in conjunction with his body hitting the sides of the tank. Distressed cries come from his throat, unlike anything Leonard or anyone else has ever heard before.

Well, not anything per se; perhaps a dolphin or sea lion or whale…except it sounds unmistakably _human_.

Leonard wishes he had his medical kit with him, just so he could sedate the merman and prevent further injury. It’s obvious that their audience isn’t doing them any favors and is probably agitating him.

The doctor turns to Nyota. “Get everyone out of here,” he orders. “Do you have your kit with you? Tricorder? Anything?”

“I have an extra tricorder in my car!” Hikaru announces.

Leonard nods. “Go get it,” he says over Nyota’s stern, “Everyone out! You heard the doctor. Out!”

“Just when I thought I’ve seen everything,” Chris whispers as he comes alongside Leonard. “What do you need me to do?”

He shrugs, watching the merman’s ongoing tantrum. “I was going to ask you for advice,” Leonard admits, scratching the back of his head.

They are splashed with a healthy spray of water that soaks their pants and shoes. Both men look up to see the merman heaving against the clear side, staring back at them, exhausted.

“Let’s try this again,” Leonard murmurs, taking a step forward. He gets closer than before and with less interference on the merman’s part; it seems that he has tired himself out. “Hello there.”

The merman huffs a sigh of acknowledgment but otherwise doesn’t do much else. Even as Hikaru comes crashing back in like his usual wont, he doesn’t even flinch.

“Got it!” his colleague shout-whispers, waving the tricorder in his hand.

Leonard rolls his eyes. “Toss it here,” he hisses, wanting more than anything to slap Hikaru upside the head. He catches the device and flips it on, listening to the whirring sound it makes as he runs it in close proximity to the merman’s body.

It’s then he notices that he’s being watched, out of curiosity more than fear.

“You’ll have to excuse Hikaru,” Leonard explains quietly. “He only has two volumes: loud and louder.”

The merman blinks at this, leaving the doctor uncertain if he can understand anything that’s being said. Regardless, he’s calm for the time being, which is probably for the best. His readings are in the tank, figuratively, of course.

“How’s it looking?” Nyota inquires.

Leonard shakes his head. “He’s been malnourished, for starters. There’s some scale rot, lacerations and bruising, and a concussion,” he recites, pausing as he waits for more information. “It looks like he has some burns on his lower back.”

“Burns?” a choir of voices exclaims.

He nods, craning his head to get a better angle. The merman refuses to budge - in fact his heart rate is increasing as the seconds tick by.

Like a storm at sea, fitting now that he thinks about it.

“Leonard!” Nyota shouts over the sound of splintering glass and water spilling onto the floor.

He’s knocked on his ass by a combination of those two things and an uncooperative merman, who is a lot heavier than he appears. Leonard drops the tricorder in the chaos and ends up with a tangle of dirty blonde hair resting on his chest.

“Holy shit!” he yells, sitting up just in time to witness the merman’s scales disintegrate, leaving two very human legs.

The merman drags himself away from the doctor, coughing until he ends up gagging water on the metal floor. His face turns a brilliant shade of pink from the effort and Leonard is at his side in an instant, keeping him upright until the attack subsides.

With some dexterity, Leonard removes his damp jacket and lays it underneath the merman’s naked body before easing him onto it. “Someone find a blanket,” he says, rubbing comforting circles on the other man’s bicep with his thumb.

The merman whimpers softly, clearly in pain, and closes his eyes. He makes no effort to dissuade Leonard from touching him and seems to quiet some when the doctor cards his fingers through his dirty blond hair.

It’s a miracle that Gary is still lingering nearby and comes back with a blanket, which Leonard takes. “I’m going to cover you up, alright?” he explains, lifting the merman’s shoulders. “This will keep you warm since you’re…naked.”

The merman makes another pained sound and his hands scramble for something to grab onto. They latch onto the doctor, refusing to let go as he shakes and moans.

“Nyota,” Leonard intones, motioning for her to help him cover their patient up. He tries not to wince as the merman’s blunt nails dig into his arms. “Hey kid, I’m going to need my arms back. What I wouldn’t give for Spock’s Vulcan hoodoo right now.”

Nyota snorts. “Oh yeah, _that_ wouldn’t make this more traumatic for him,” she grouses, tucking the final corner of the blanket against Leonard’s chest. “What should we do?”

“Call Geoff and get his team down here,” Leonard suggests, easing one of his arms from the merman’s grasp and hushing him when he whines. “And we’ll take him back to the facility; check him over, let him rest, figure out our next step.”

She seems to agree with this. “What about…” Nyota motions to Gary and Chris.

Leonard turns to them, catching the latter’s eye, who is speaking with Hikaru. He nods and offers a small, comforting smile. “They’ll keep their mouths shut,” he assures.

 

* * *

 

The merman had tolerated being poked and prodded well enough, though the medical devices they used on him caught his attention.

More than once did Leonard have to gently bat his hands away, explaining to the merman that he was absolutely and under no circumstances allowed to touch. This only earned a confused, child-like expression before he tried again.

“No,” Leonard says firmly, pushing away the kid’s hand as he shakes his head. “ _No_.”

The merman pouts at the dismissal and slouches, allowing Leonard to refasten the regen unit to his lower back where several small, yet painful burns lie. The pattern appears to be consistent with an explosion, though the doctor is uncertain as to how the merman would have encountered one.

Then again…

“One more round ought to do it,” he tells the kid as the regen unit comes to life. Leonard takes one of the merman’s hands and traces under the newly healed skin, no longer battered or bruised.

Just pink and unblemished, as it should be.

The merman makes a clicking sound, earning Leonard’s attention. He grins when he finds the doctor looking at him and goes to reach for the stethoscope around his shoulders.

“You are going to be a handful,” Leonard grumbles, allowing him to take it. He watches as the merman inspects the object by sniffing it first and then tapping it with his finger. “Here,” the doctor explains, placing the earpieces into the shells of the merman’s ears before pressing the end against his own chest.

The kid’s eyes turn into saucers as he listens to Leonard’s heart beating, chattering exciting in a language that the doctor can’t understand. His baritone surprises everyone including Leonard who isn’t normally surprised by much.

“You have one, too,” Leonard tells him, placing the end of the stethoscope on the thin material of merman’s borrowed t-shirt. “See?”

His voice fills the room again before he sneezes several times in a row. The merman seems equally surprised by this development and looks to Leonard for guidance.

“It’s okay, kid,” he assures, rubbing his arm. “You got a name or should I make one up for you?”

The merman puckers his lips together, licking them as he nods.

Leonard, Nyota, and Hikaru learned during the ride over to the facility that the kid understood them once he had realized that they meant no harm.

“J-j-mes,” he sounds out, fumbling over the words. He huffs in frustration when Leonard raises a confused brow. The merman tries again. “Ja-m-mes.”

“James?” Leonard asks, earning an enthusiastic nod. “Okay then. Can I call you Jim?”

The merman—now Jim, judging by the way he lights up—shakes his head. “Jim,” he repeats, pointing to himself.

“Yes,” Leonard agrees. “That’s you. I’m Leonard.”

Jim mutters, scowling. “Bo-ones,” he stammers.

“Not Bones,” Leonard says. “Leonard.”

The kid shakes his head. “Bones,” Jim tells him with a measure of finality.

“Great,” he grumbles, the regen beeping. “Just great.”

 

* * *

 

It’s late afternoon by the time Hikaru drives Leonard and Jim back to Leonard’s apartment.

The aforementioned merman is tucked into the bend of his arm, dozing comfortably as Leonard tries his best not to fidget. The feeling of pins and needles is starting at the tips of his fingers and working its way up to his arm, but there isn’t much he can do.

“How’s he doing?” Hikaru asks, breaking the silence.

Leonard peeks over the top of Jim’s head to see his lashes breaking against the tops of his flushed cheekbones. He has developed a bit of a cold, unsurprising given the circumstances, and it was decided that Jim would stay with Leonard until they came up with a better idea.

Jim makes a noise, something between a squeak and a sigh, and shivers into Leonard’s chest. He rubs his palm up and down the length of the younger man’s arm, holding him a bit closer to keep him warm. “Out like a light,” he replies. “And making my arm fall asleep.”

“Well, at least he’s done throwing dead fish at you, Len,” Hikaru says, trying not to snicker. “For now.”

Leonard just groans.

 

* * *

 

It seems that Jim doesn’t understand the meaning of personal space.

“No,” Leonard tells him as he leads the kid back to the guest room, trying to ignore the sweet, dopey grin on his face. “No, Jim. You sleep here.”

Like a child, he points to himself as Leonard sits him down on the mattress. “Jim,” he parrots.

“Yes, that’s you,” the doctor agrees, urging him to lie down. “That room over there? That’s _my_ room. This is _your_ room, got it?”

Jim smiles as he reclines on the bed and is covered with sheets. “Jim,” he tells Leonard. “Bones.”

“Right,” he sighs, tired and at his wit’s end. This is the third time Jim has snuck into his room and tried to make himself at home. “Bones sleeps in there and you sleep in here.”

Leonard watches as the younger man chuckles, the sound as clear as a bell, and finds himself smiling. The kid’s sunny deposition is infectious, even at ass o’clock. He soothes Jim’s hair back, his movements going until he notices the pull of the younger man’s eyelids.

Jim purrs like a cat, burrowing his cheek against the pillows, and keeps Leonard’s person in his vision. He murmurs at the doctor and grins.

When Jim’s energy finally flags, Leonard removes his hand and body to venture back to his own room before sighing with relief. He all but collapses into his own bed and covers himself with a comforter, grumbling about how it’s just his rotten luck that he would get stuck with a merman who’s basically an overgrown child.

He falls asleep dreaming of his mama’s peach cobbler and warm summer nights on the back porch swing.

And heat pressed against his belly.

“Huh?” Leonard mumbles, cracking an eye open. It’s dark out now and he swears that he didn’t put the heater on.

Then he hears Jim sniffling and rubbing his fevered skin into Leonard’s stomach.

“For fuck’s sake,” he groans, flailing his limbs for a moment and lying on his back as he stares up at the ceiling. In the dim light, he can make out Jim’s wide-eyed stare and dirty blond cowlicks. “Pain in the ass,” Leonard hisses as he reaches for his comm, dialing Nyota. “And you have no idea!”

Nyota picks up with a holo on in the background. “I’m surprised you’re even awake,” she says by way of greeting.

“Jim won’t stay in the guest room,” Leonard explains.

“Bones!” Jim chirps, squirming up the mattress and making himself comfortable as he lies next to Leonard.

Leonard hears Nyota’s laughter. “I need sleep!” he bellows into the comm.

“Think about it, Len,” she says once she calms down. “He’s sea mammal and probably used to sleeping with his pod.”

Oh. _Oh._

“I’m his pod,” Leonard reasons. He glances over at Jim, who is now hiding his face under the comforter. The tips of his hair stick out and lie against the pillows as he chats away.

Nyota snorts. “At least for a little while,” she assures. “It’s his first night in a safe environment, so just…deal with it, I suppose.”

Leonard tugs the comforter down, revealing Jim’s smiling face. His eyes crinkle charmingly and by sheer luck, the doctor notices a dimple forming at the corner of his guest’s mouth. God, Leonard is so fucked. “I must be insane,” he tells Nyota and the younger man, who pokes the tip of his nose. “I’ll call you in the morning.”

“Good luck,” Nyota says as Jim sneezes.

He does it again and makes a disgruntled sound. Jim pouts and whines a string of incoherent sentences, something Leonard cannot understand even if he was speaking Standard, though his face conveys the discomfort he feels.

“It’s going to take a few days, kid,” Leonard explains as he wipes the younger man’s nose with a tissue. He tosses it into the bin next to his bed and tucks them both under the comforter, silently cursing his life. “Now go to bed, Jim.”

The room is blissfully quiet for a few minutes until Jim’s very quiet, “Bones?” punctures the air. He scoots across the mattress and tucks himself into the curve of Leonard’s body. He’s warm and soft, humming happily as he tries to bring them closer.

 _Pods,_ he thinks later on when Jim’s breathing has evened out and he’s probably drooling all over Leonard. _Fucking pods_.

 

* * *

 

Okay, so the kid doesn’t end up drooling on him.

However, Jim _does_ glom to Leonard as they sleep and seems quite happy to do so. Worse yet, he lingers in the bed even after the owner has vacated it and is padding around the apartment with a cup of coffee.

Leonard checks in on him from time to time, finding that Jim has been preoccupied with a holo or the zipper on his borrowed hoodie. Right now, he’s passed out in an ungraceful sprawl that’s sent all of the sheets and comforter to the floor.

He can’t really begrudge Jim there; who knows how long Harrison kept him locked up in that tank with no room, dirty water, and little food.

The latter of is a work in progress. He definitely likes citrus drinks and saltine crackers, though seems to be wary about chicken broth despite finishing two bowls of it. Bananas…well…Leonard ate the rest of that for him.

He has a feeling that Jim will end up enjoying the likes of pizza, hamburgers, fries, and all of the things that he _shouldn’t_ be eating.

 _Those will have to wait,_ Leonard thinks while he runs the tricorder over the younger man. He notes that his fever, while not ideal, hasn’t risen from the last time the doctor checked. While still at the facility, Leonard, Nyota, and Hikaru decided it would be best if Jim suffered through the cold to build up his immune system rather than give him a hypo.

Besides, a little suffering never killed anyone.

He tucks a lock of hair back and sighs. “Maybe we’ll try out some Chinese food. Whatcha say, kid?”

Jim snuffles, his nose twitching as he continues to sleep. Leonard has a clear view of his profile, a surreal picture of beauty with his pink lips, intense blue eyes, golden hair, and fair skin. He's absolutely certain that Jim doesn't realize how beautiful he is.

Well, Leonard does and he’s mystified as to why Jim has decided to latch on to him, of all people. He’s grumpy, crass, and the least nurturing human to have walked the planet.

And yet here he is with a former merman in his bed, who is now unconsciously aware of his presence and murmurs a dreamy version of that ridiculous name Jim calls him.

Leonard feels the tug of fingers grasping onto the leg of his jeans and glances down, finding Jim’s face pressed into his thigh. His warm breath seeps through the denim material in a rhythmic fashion and it just feels…

_…nice._

With a hesitant hand, he goes to cup Jim’s cheek, feeling the texture of stubble and smoothness. Leonard brushes his thumb over the expanse of skin, marveling at the fact that this man was a merman only twenty-four hours ago.

Jim coughs, the action rousing him from slumber. He blinks, perplexed as he takes in his surroundings until he finds Leonard. “Bones,” he says with a sleepy grin, so sweet and innocent.

“You want to watch a movie, kid?”

 

* * *

 

On second thought having Jim watch _The Little Mermaid_ was not one of Leonard’s brightest ideas.

He believed that the parallels between his guest and the main character would provide some sort of insight into the ways of the merfolk becoming human. Instead, the living room is filled with Jim’s angry chatter as Leonard and Philip Boyce, his boss, observe from the doorway.

“Apparently, he doesn’t understand why Ariel would want to leave her pod,” he whispers to his awestruck friend, who only nods in reply.

“Bones!” Jim calls, his brows furrowed. He goes on a tangent, gesturing at the holoscreen as his voice grows a bit louder. Finally, he throws his hands up in the air and shakes his hand, muttering to himself as he continues watching the movie.

Phil sets down one of the bags he’s brought over. “Huh,” he says, observing the former merman. “He has strong feelings about singing sea animals.”

“I’m pretty sure he was taken against his will,” Leonard tells him as they go into the kitchen. He pulls out a six pack of beer and some chips. “I thought you were bringing a pizza.”

“Scotty’s getting it,” Phil replies, still occupied by Jim’s one-sided bickering with the holo. “You said he understands us.”

Leonard nods. “His comprehension of Terran Standard is remarkable.” The buzzer from downstairs goes off and he presses it to let Scotty up. “It would be great if I can figure out what the heck Jim is saying.”

“Oi, oi!” the Scotsman greets as he comes through the door, the smell of pizza wafting through the apartment. “Is that _The Little Mermaid_? I love that one!” He joins Leonard and Phil, handing the former the box as he notices Jim sitting in the living room. “What part is he at?”

Both men shrug in response. “Jim doesn’t seem to agree with Ariel wanting to leave the sea to live with Prince Eric for the rest of her life,” Phil stage whispers as he passes Scotty a beer.

“Ah, the laddie hasn’t been on land for, what…not even two days,” he counters after a healthy drink. “Give ‘im time to understand the meaning of true love!”

Jim starts on another digression which silences all three men. Scotty seems surprised by this and heads towards the living room, leaving his beer on the countertop. Scotty replies back to Jim in a similar language, shocking both Leonard and Phil. They rush into the room, where Scotty is conversing with the younger man who is in the middle of telling him something that causes him to laugh.

“You understand him?” Leonard croaks.

His friend holds up a hand, hushing him, and responds back at length. “It’s a pidgin form of Gaelic. I wouldn’t expect it to be loaded on a translator; the language is practically dead after all,” Scotty explains over the sound of Jim’s constant talking. “He doesn’t like that Ariel takes advice from a seagull; says they aren’t very smart and any merfolk would know that.”

Phil huffs out a laugh while Leonard’s jaw falls open, stunned. Jim pulls on Scotty’s sleeve, practically climbing on top of him and points to Leonard.

“What’s he saying now?” Leonard asks.

Scotty nods in agreement to whatever Jim has told him, earning a megawatt grin that pacifies the young man and he settles back down on the couch. “Jimmy was tellin’ me that you are like the sawbones—his folks’ version of doctors—and that you rescued him from the grey ship.”

“He probably means Harrison’s cargo ship,” Leonard reasons. “Could you ask Jim how he was captured? If he even remembers…”

He waits patiently as Scotty inquires about how Jim ended up in a tank on a cargo ship. Leonard doesn’t even pretend not to notice the sad expression that washes over the young man’s features or how his entire body language seems to shift.

Jim does tell the Scotsman, albeit very quietly and with tears glistening in his eyes. It’s over far too quickly and with a wet, hacking cough that startles the merman.

Scotty pats his shoulder and murmurs a phrase that seems to brighten Jim’s demeanor. “Aye, 'atta boy,” he says, nudging the young man’s chin. “Some pizza and beer will fix you right up.”

Phil stays behind, keeping Jim company as Leonard and Scotty go back into the kitchen. “Well?” he inquires as soon as they’re out of earshot. “What did he say?”

“Said he had gone off hunting without the rest of his _teaghlach_ —his pod, for lack of a better word—when the fires started,” Scotty begins to explain. “I think he meant bombs, like the ones used in underwater mining, but I didn’t want to press the lad. By the time Jimmy swam back, the entire _teaghlach_ had been slaughtered and another one of Harrison’s bombs went off. Some of the impact hit him when he was swimming away and he ended up getting tangled in one of the bastard’s nets.” He reaches for his beer and takes a swig. “Jimmy’s lucky you found ‘im, that’s for certain.”

Leonard can’t really disagree. “Yeah, he’s taken a real shine to me,” he says while grabbing a stack of plates and some napkins. “Grab the pizza and my beer, will ya?”

Jim is naturally curious about their meal and watches Leonard placing a slice onto a plate as Scotty explains what it is. He murmurs back, still hesitant by the sound of it. “Bones?” he questions.

“You’ll like it,” Leonard promises, setting the plate in Jim’s lap. He tucks a napkin into the collar of the kid’s t-shirt and smooths it down against his chest, then ruffles his hair.

This earns hearty laughter as Jim starts to eat, having figured out that pizza is eaten with his hands. From the first bite, he voices his enthusiasm for the meal, thanks in part to Scotty’s translation, and has a few more slices over the course of the day.

It turns out his wariness for broth and other hot foods come from the fact that he’s never had them, being a merman and all.

“Makes sense,” Leonard says as he inches his beer bottle away from Jim’s curious fingers and tries to pay attention to the movie playing on the holoscreen. “His diet probably consisted of plant and sea life.”

Phil nods in agreement. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he managed to get his hands on something that would fall off a container ship, as inquisitive as he is. Len, your beer.”

“Ah, Jim no!” Leonard groans, holding his drink out of the young man’s reach. It doesn’t seem to deter him from trying to make another pass at it and Jim ends up toppling into Leonard’s lap. “No, _no_. You’re sick, you can’t have this yet. Scotty, a little help?”

The Scotsman translates, earning a pout from the younger man. “Ah Len, just a wee nip,” he concedes. “Look at him!”

Leonard does look and rolls his eyes at the puppy dog face the merman pulls, shaking his head as he passes the bottle to Jim. “A _little_ bit, kid,” he orders, tilting it back into his open mouth.

Jim grimaces, making a series of disgruntled clicks with his tongue before finally swallowing the beer down. He shakes his head, relaying his dislike to Scotty, who chuckles. “Bones,” he says, tugging on Leonard’s sleeve. “No, Bones.”

“It’s an acquired taste,” Leonard assures, taking a long drink now the issue has been settled.

 

* * *

 

The day ends with Leonard, Phil, and Scotty teaching Jim some basic words and phrases.

The merman’s intelligence has always been apparent, but the speed at which he picks up Terran Standard is both awe inspiring and frightening. Jim seems to think it’s a game and one that delights him to no end.

“We should have Scotty and Nyota help him develop his language skills,” Phil intones as he helps Leonard clean up while their aforementioned friend keeps Jim occupied.

Leonard nods in agreement, stealing a peeking at the merman. “I don’t see why not. He could come to the facility, be around the animals and other people. Contained and secure exposure.”

“Exactly what I was thinking,” Phil concurs. “Perhaps he could give us some insight into aquatic life. You know, real insight! We could observe him with other species…”

“I’m not sure if he’ll turn back,” Leonard admits, scratching his jaws. “I don’t even know what made him sprout legs in the first place.”

Phil glances over at Jim and sighs. “Fear?” he suggests, turning back to Leonard. “Maybe the fins weren’t permanent and it was a coincidence?”

“Maybe,” Leonard sighs, his eyes still on Jim. “I don’t want him to think we’re using him, Phil.”

“So, we do the polite thing,” Phil says with a smile, “and ask him.” He nudges the young doctor in the side, laughing. “You’re from the south, son. Don’t you have any manners?”

Leonard splashes him with soapy water, having no qualms about doing so.

Once they have left, he ushers Jim into the bathroom, where he sits on the toilet and keeps watch over the younger man as he bathes. It seems that his gills have vanished along with his fins, which he only noticed recently.

Also, Leonard doesn’t put it past Jim not to cause a flood in the apartment.

“Bones?” he asks, his voice echoing against the tiles. “What are sonics?”

Leonard puts his PADD face down on his lap. “It’s high pitched sensors that take dirt off your body,” he explains as the water stops running. “Like shower, except you don’t get wet.”

The door slides open and Jim, still getting used to human legs, steps out slowly. He grips the sides, pressing his feet against the floor, as if he’s uncertain it’s really solid. Leonard is up and carrying a towel that he wraps around Jim’s waist after a sensory pat down.

“You don’t get wet?” Jim questions dubiously. He peers back into the shower stall and studies it for a time after Leonard shakes his head in confirmation. “I don’t like it.”

He finds himself laughing; real, from the belly laughter. “Oh, kid,” Leonard sighs, wiping his eyes. “You’re something else! Come on, time to brush your teeth.”

Jim doesn’t try to eat the toothpaste nor does he end up with one of Leonard’s t-shirts on his legs. He’s actually fairly exhausted by the time the doctor is tugging the comforter over him, hardly moving as fingers card through his damp golden hair.

“Hey kid,” Leonard whispers, not wanting to get the merman riled up. “I’m going to take a shower, but I’ll be right back, alright?”

Jim yawns and looks at him blearily. “After shower, we will _cadal gu trom_?”

“Yeah,” he replies, hoping that he didn’t just agree to some sort of merfolk sacrifice. “Hold tight, kid.”

Leonard goes through his nightly routine, intermittently chuckling when Jim enters his thoughts. The kid is something else, that’s for sure, and his presence, while tedious, also seems to brighten Leonard’s otherwise mundane life in a short amount of time.

He finishes up in the bathroom and changes into a pair of sweats and a t-shirt before double checking the apartment. As he approaches his bedroom, Leonard hopes for a full night of uninterrupted sleep. He expects to find Jim passed out in bed instead of a sniffling merman wiping his nose on his sleeve.

“Hey,” Leonard calls, rushing to his side. He notices that Jim’s cheeks are damp with tears, which come down in rivulets. “What’s wrong?”

Jim glimpses at him from beneath a heavy fan of lashes, his eyes shining like sapphires in the dim light. “My _teaghlach’s_ gone,” he whispers before he begins sobbing. “Bones!”

Leonard folds Jim against his chest, holding him tightly as the merman weeps in his arms. Hot tears seep into the material of his shirt, right over the beating of his heart, and he swears that he can feel a momentary spark of Jim’s grief.

The raw agony of being alone, of being torn from his home, of watching his loved ones die. The shuddering, his wordless cries.

“Shh,” Leonard murmurs, dropping his cheek against the top of Jim’s head. He smells his shampoo as well as the sea and its brine. “Shh, it’s going to be okay.” Leonard runs his thumb against the edge of the merman’s hairline, back and forth.

He ends up with Jim’s head nestled on his deltoid, his cheek fitting perfectly into the curve of the doctor’s body. Leonard tries not to think about it as he falls asleep to the sound of the merman’s breathing and the rain splattering against the window.

 

* * *

 

In the following weeks, Jim’s cold disappears as they are wont to do and his Standard improves dramatically thanks in part to Scotty and Nyota’s patient tutoring.

(Leonard has something to do with it, too, thank you very much.)

He comes to the facility, wandering the halls with Leonard in tow, gazing at the marine life behind triple-paned glass. On the first day, Jim frets that they are trapped as he was and tells the doctor so when they stop in front of a tank of Humpback Whales.

“They come and go as they please,” Leonard explains, rubbing circles against the small of Jim’s back. “The ones who are injured or ill stay with us until they can go back in the wild, but everyone else is free to do whatever they want.” He studies the merman’s face. “We keep track of them through implants that are placed in their treats, just in case something happens to them.”

The frown on Jim’s face lessens. “You protect them?” he questions.

“Yes, and we study them. Their habits, the way they live in the wild,” Leonard elaborates. “We try not to interfere as much as possible.”

Jim nods. “Only when they’re in trouble.”

“Only when they’re in trouble,” Leonard echoes.

A pair of blue eyes looks at him, the reflection of the water making them appear even brighter. “Like how you helped me?” Jim implores.

“Not quite.” Leonard leans in to whisper. “I don’t let these guys hog the sheets.”

Jim snorts, his lips curling into a grin. “Or hold your hand,” referring to all the times when they would venture outside of Leonard’s apartment in the beginning. He had been shy, nervous and hiding behind the doctor while latching onto him like a child.

No one - Nyota, Hikaru, Phil, Scotty, and even Spock - said a word about it. Everyone figured that if getting Jim outside meant that Leonard had to literally hold his hand the entire time, then so be it.

“Only you get to do that, darlin’,” Leonard says without a second thought. He tries not to notice how the merman blushes, all sweet and bashful.

In all honesty, there isn’t much about Jim that isn’t sweet, as if his innocence and awe of the human world are able to charm even the dourest of people.

“Bones,” Jim intones, his call nearly swallowed by the sounds the whales are making. He steps closer to Leonard, considering him in silence as his tongue wets his lips.

Leonard feels his heart slamming against his chest. “Jim,” he replies when the younger man comes into his orbit, so close that his body heat radiates against Leonard’s.

“ _Càil a chothrom air pòg_?” the merman inquires.

He raises a brow. “Huh?”

“Oh…” Jim says, realizing he spoke in his native tongue.

The flush on his cheeks deepens and it suddenly dawns on Leonard about what the younger man is asking. He tugs on the front of Jim’s shirt, gently pulling him closer until they are chest to chest. “Yes,” Leonard replies, lowering his head the inch or so between them.

The first press of their mouths is close mouthed, a proverbial testing of the waters. Jim is warm and eager, never fully pulling away completely when they part. He brushes the tip of his nose against Leonard’s, pressing playfully little pecks along the corner of the doctor’s lips.

Leonard cups the back of Jim’s head, nudging him closer. They kiss again and this time it’s filled with all the yearning and heat that both men are feeling. He groans at the first slip of Jim’s tongue against his own and relishes the little mewls that come from the younger man.

Whatever transpires between them is slow and languid, not some fast clash of teeth or sloppy fumbling. Leonard can safely admit he’s never experienced anything like it—not even his first kiss with Ramona Gardner in the eighth grade.

And it certainly didn’t include a whale song or Spock’s not so discreet coughing.

“Did you need something?” Leonard asks, trying not to appear too flustered as he and Jim cling to each other. He has that post-make out glow, he’s sure of it.

Spock folds his hands behind his back. “I was going to inquire with Jim if he would like to be instructed in three-dimensional chess,” he replies in his usual monotone. “But it seems he is otherwise occupied.”

“Chess?” Jim questions before Leonard can start in on exactly where he thinks Spock can put one of his chess pieces. He glances between the two men, confused.

“It is a two-player strategy board game played on a chessboard, traditionally a checkered game board with sixty-four squares arranged in an eight-by-eight grid,” Spock explains. Vulcan or no, he realizes human confusion when he sees it and raises a brow. “Perhaps, you can observe Dr. McCoy and I as we play a game.”

They end up in Spock’s office that he shares with Nyota. Jim is perched on a desk, watching as the two doctors play.

While he is a quiet observer, Jim’s swinging legs seem to distract Spock from the game at hand. The Vulcan is far too polite to tell him to stop and Leonard is far too amused to do anything about it.

It’s a rarity to come so close to kicking Spock’s ass in chess.

 

* * *

 

Between fervent kisses, Leonard explains the human dynamics of relationships. He doesn’t get past the first date since they get caught up in making out under the covers of Leonard’s bed.

Why they’re under them, he’ll never know.

He pulls Jim closer, slipping his hand under the waistband of his sweatpants and grazing the warm skin of his lower back. Leonard moans softly when their mouths part and Jim is nipping his jaw. “I’ve unlocked a monster,” he breathes. “A _kissing_ monster. From the deep waters of the sea.”

“I don’t hear you complaining, Bones,” Jim tells him, following by the swipe of his tongue against Leonard’s neck.

The removal of their scant clothing starts slowly - a t-shirt here, a pair of sweats there followed by a trail of kisses over the skin that’s uncovered.

Jim tastes as sweet as Leonard imagined he would, his flesh like a decadent meal. The merman is so responsive to his touch—just as he’s always been—and it drives Leonard crazy. “Bones,” Jim moans as the last of his clothes is flung off the bed, revealing his naked body.

Leonard’s seen him naked plenty of times, but never like this: spread out against his sheets and flushed from arousal. “Darlin’,” he murmurs, kissing his way up Jim’s torso, “the things I’m gonna do to you.”

He takes the act of preparation slow, talking his lover through each step and gauging his physical reaction when Jim can’t speak. Leonard strokes the muscled skin of his thighs and kisses around his navel, murmuring endearments until the merman cries out for more.

Leonard keeps things simple: no fancy oral or sex toys, just their bodies becoming one. He uses enough lube to create a slip and slide between them.

When he finally pushes into Jim’s tight, slick heat, Leonard brings their lips together and kisses him with everything he’s got. He has Jim’s legs around his waist and his hands threaded his hair, their bodies surging against each other.

It’s like a dream, Leonard muses as he brings Jim to orgasm, trying desperately not to come at the first flutter of his lover’s passage around his cock. A dream he never wants to wake from.

Later, when they can breathe and the room has cooled, Jim pokes him in the side. “Can we do that again?” he asks innocently.

The doctor snorts. “What have I done?” he grouses, pulling the younger man on top of him. The merman’s weight feels comforting, especially when he settles his head under Leonard’s chin. “I want to take you out tomorrow night. For dinner.”

“Why?” Jim asks, lifting the covers off their heads and revealing his bluer than blue eyes.

Leonard tweaks the neat nub of his nose. “Because I want to,” he says. “And I don’t want you to think that this is just a passing fancy. You’ve grown on me, kid.”

“I _know_ that,” Jim declares, rolling his eyes as if this is the most obvious thing in the world. “I knew from the moment we met.”

“From the…wait, what?” Leonard questions, raising his brows. “Before _or_ after the fish?”

Jim ponders this for a moment. “After,” he replies definitively, sliding off Leonard and nestling up to his side.

“Do tell,” the older man teases, reaching for a stray lock of golden hair. He traps it between his fingers, watching how the light shines upon it.

The merman drapes an arm around his waist. “Merfolk mates for life,” he starts the explain. “I never had anyone within my _teaghlach_ that I could see as my _cridhe teòm_.”

“What’s that?” Leonard whispers.

Jim frowns in thought. “Tender heart,” he translates, though by his expression, the word clearly alludes him. “A soul…partner?”

“Mate,” Leonard corrects. “Soulmate.”

He nods. “Soulmate,” he repeats. “My _teaghlach_ used to joke that I was too _fiadhaich_ to have a mate since I was always going off on my own and causing trouble. Um…” Jim scoots closer to Leonard, burying his face into the doctor’s chest and inhaling his scent. “There were stories —legends, really—of mermaids or mermen finding their _cridhe teòm_ with humans and becoming one of you, but I never took much stock in them until we met.”

Jim peeks up, revealing the blush on his face. “As soon as we touched, I knew. That’s why my tail disappeared,” he continues, whispering. “And why I trusted you…because I knew I could.”

“So you’re my soulmate?” Leonard questions after a long period of silence, watching Jim nod. He caresses his cheek and grins. “Forever then?”

The merman nods. “It’s a…what’s that called again?”

“A date,” Leonard intones, going in for a kiss.

Jim smiles. “It’s a date.”

**Author's Note:**

>  _Teaghlach_ \- Family  
>  _Cadal gu trom_ \- Go to bed/go to sleep  
>  _Càil a chothrom air pòg_ \- Any chance of a kiss?  
>  _Cridhe teòm_ \- Tender heart  
>  _Fiadhaich_ \- Wild


End file.
